Friday, April 15, 2016

I've never shied away from trying a new flavor of any candy. Sure, there's some that end up not being very good. But in the end I will always try anything once, even if it's a flavor I might expect to not like. Never before has that been more true than with the three new flavors of M&M's. All three are new takes on the classic Peanut M&M but you can vote online for which of the three will stick around. The flavors? Honey Nut (Sounds fun!), Coffee Nut (Oooh interesting), and...Chili Nut (Wait...what? Who would want...ugh seriously?...). But as a member of the most kick ass food blog on the entire Internet, it's my duty. So let's do this! Three new kinds of M&M's in one review!

First up, Coffee Nut! Living in Seattle, I take my coffee pretty seriously. I drink about a pot a day and don't feel bad about it. Even when I'm so jittery that I feel like I'm shaking more than the meth-head I passed on my way back from the store today. The price you pay, son! Judging these by the evidence given, I was expecting them to just taste like a peanut M&M with an added fake coffee taste, and you know what? That's exactly what they are.

They chose an earthy brown color scheme for these and it fits them nicely. You can't have bright colors when you're trying to taste like coffee. In the end these aren't bad, but they also aren't anything I would freak out about. It might have been cool for them to smash up espresso beans in the chocolate for a SERIOUS coffee flavor. I almost said swap out the peanut for an espresso bean, but you know what? Is that ever good? Flavor-wise, yeah, but then you're left with a mouth full of espresso bean debris for the next hour. So, no, that's not a good idea at all.

If you're a fan of coffee flavored things and Peanut M&M's like I am, these are a pleasant little treat, but not good enough to get my vote for one that needs to stick around in their usual lineup.

Next up? HONEY NUT!

When I ripped open the package of these I was really hoping that the gimmick here would be that the peanut inside would be a honey roasted peanut. Seems like that would make sense, right? How else would you change a regular peanut M&M into a Honey Nut M&M? Well...apparently they had other ideas. It's just a regular peanut. At first these seems to be...regular peanut M&M's. Perhaps if I was some chump off the street I would believe that. But you see, my taste buds are honed to superhuman levels so I did detect an added honey flavor and sweetness. But having to try this hard to taste a flavor reminded me of when we reviewed Birthday Cake M&Ms...

There is honey flavor here, and I can't for the life of me tell if it's in the candy shell or the chocolate. But either way, it's way too faint. While I enjoy the yellow and black coloring and what honey flavor they do have, I really think if they had combined whatever they have already done, with making the peanut a honey roasted peanut, these might have been a home run. Still enjoyable, but missed potential!

Now comes the one I was dreading out of the three...Chili Nut M&M's!

I popped two of these in my mouth and chewed them up and had a split second where I said, "Hmm...these might not be that bad." Then the spice started to burn a little. These are basically spicy peanut M&Ms. The peanut isn't a chili peanut or anything. They just have chili spice mixed in. At first I tossed the package aside in disgust. Spicy M&M's! Who would want that?! Gross!

But then something happened...

As the spiciness on my tongue started to go away my brain presented the question, "Well...why not spicy peanut M&Ms?" It's true. I've had chocolates that were slightly spicy before that ended up being pretty tasty. While it's not the first flavor I would navigate towards when looking for a sweet treat, is it so bad? To find out, I decided to eat the entire package.

I thought I would hate these. So much that I did at first. But then as I ate more, they were kind of a fun take on a classic. The spice definitely builds. So once you put down a handful of them you have a pretty solid burn going. Keep in mind I'm a level 27 wimp when it comes to spicy stuff. I enjoy a burn here and there if the flavor is good enough along with it, but really spicy stuff, I only eat on a dare. But these aren't terrible. The classic crunch of the peanut and candy shell together take on a whole different importance when coupled with a spicy burn. They go together quite well and the sweetness and creaminess of the chocolate eases it a little bit.

In the end if I had to vote for a favorite of the three, I supposed it would be the Honey Nut, which is kind of disappointing because while they are good they could have been awesome. Are they worth a try? Absolutely. The Coffee Nut are also pretty good but the coffee flavor seemed to get more fake with the more I ate. They are all cool and interesting enough to scoop up a pack just to try them. Even if you are unsure about the Chili Nut, If you are into spicy stuff at all, give them a whirl and you might be surprised like I was!